The Circle Reunited: The Art of the Living Mind
by Great Mage Briar
Summary: The four mages have reunited. Now 18 years old, they have been forced to leave the Winding Circle. They have found their own home. Months have passed since they escaped the Empress. While at market, something happens that starts a whole new adventure for
1. The Burning Manor

Disclaimer: As if I would EVER claim any of the great Tamora Pierce's Characters! Okay… I might want ownership of Briar… but… yeah… that's not happening. Therefore, all things from the Circle of Magic/The Circle Opens/The Circle Reforged is strictly the property of the Lady Tamora Pierce. Anything else is strictly mine. Get it? Got it? Good. Now… I don't want to see ANY legal papers on my desk in the morning.

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Chapter Summary: 

The four have reunited. Each now18 years old, they live together in a 3 floor manor. One day, while at market, something happens that starts a whole new adventure for the four mages. This story takes place after Shatterglass with the little information I know from The Will of the Empress.

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**The Circle Reunited**

**Chapter One: The Burning Manor**

_At Market, Streets of Summersea, in Emelan_

The streets were swarmed with people. The rich, the poor, and the middle-class crowded the streets with whatever money they had to get any bargains they could. Lining the streets were booths, each selling their different goods. There were tents were scryers foretold whatever future they may have seen in their glasses. Mages on the streets sold everything from potions, to enchanted clothing. There was a certain part of the street that seemed to be particularly crowded. Four booths were teeming with customers, most of who looked to be quite wealthy. They were all obviously mages.

One of these mages wore a cotton shirt, dyed in a pine-green shirt and bark-brown breeches. From his booth, miniature trees were being sold to wealthy-looking buyers, most of whom were wearing green robes and habits that expressed their dedication to the gods of greenery. To his left, a mage with red hair and glasses sat with children, starring intently at each one as she handed them different objects. To his right, a cinnamon-brown skinned mage wearing leather with neat braids pulled back touched a small brass rose bud which immediately bloomed; her customer let loose an "ah…" To the living-metal worker's right stood yet another mage. With cornflower-blue eyes and clothes that were unnaturally straight, she was busy letting a woman with wild hair and two missing teeth try on a silk dress. They were, respectively, Plant Mage Briar Moss, Weather Mage Trisana Chandler, Smith Mage Daja Kisubo, and Thread Mage Lady Sandrilene fa Toren. They had gained a reputation as some of the greatest Great Mages of the age. They also happened to be no older than eighteen.

"Oh, but I certainly can't afford this," the woman told Sandry sadly as she looked at herself in a full-length mirror.

"And why would you assume something like that?" She responded, wrapping a matching scarf around the woman's head.

"This is _real_ silk, my lady," she said with a toothy grin. "And I am far from rich."

"I told you, _don't_ call me that," Sandry told her with a frown. "And how much money do you have on you anyway?"

"Not a copper more than one silver crescent."

"You're in luck then! I made these _ages_ ago and I need to get rid of it. So… I'm only selling it and the ensemble for a total of five copper astrals." The young noble beamed at the woman whose eyes had begun to water. "And they're guaranteed never to wrinkle or stain.

"Thank you," said the woman, her voice cracking. "What- is there anything I can ever do for you?"

"You could buy the dress. Honestly, it would mean the world to me," Sandry said, still smiling. Moments later, the dress and scarf had been wrapped and paid for. The thread mage watched the woman walk away, her smile still planted firmly on her face.

"And did that make you feel good," said the plant-mage. He looked as if he were about to speak again, but before he could someone caught his attention. It was a man in a long, expensive-looking overcoat. Behind him, two people stood. One wore the mage's medallion on their neck and the other carried bags. The man was admiring a Weeping Willow _shakkan_ and was snapping his finger's for Briar's attention.

"I'll not pay a copper more than one Gold Maja," he said importantly, straightening himself and setting the large gold coin on the booth-table. A scowl had adorned Briar's face as he placed the money in a small chest and handed the pot over. The rich-man immediately handed the pot over to the already overburdened servant and walked away smugly.

"Bag," Briar muttered.

"_Kaq_," Daja said at the same time. The four mages scowled at the man as he walked away before they each were swarmed with more customers.

The sky was now a beautiful orange; the signal to booth-runners that it was time to pack-up and go home. Tris packed her different toys and objects into a small chest and collapsed her tent quickly. Sandry ordered her remaining works to fold themselves before packing them into a box. Briar packed his remaining three _shakkans_ into a metal crate while Daja placed the little remaining living metal she had into separate wooden crates lined with metal on the outside. They were nearly done before…

BOOM!

The ground shook as a house in the distance erupted in flames. As what seemed to be a natural reaction, the four mages left their booths, Sandry throwing a long thread out, which twisted and turned forming a circle around all of their booths, and ran toward the wreckage. As they raced to the pillar of fire, they dealt with the traffic that ran in the opposite direction. Briar, as a former thief, easily maneuvered around them. Daja, on the other hand, followed closely behind Sandry who gently moved people, using the clothes they wore to move them out of her way. Tris was less gentle. With firm and strong gusts, she shoved the panicking people out of her way. They reached the scene in a manner of minutes.

Before them, a blazing three-story tall manor slowly burned before their eyes.

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Author's Note: It would be nice to get some reviews before I continue. I want to get any feedback before posting the second Chapter. 


	2. Treasure in the Flames

Disclaimer: Seriously. Do I really need to say it again? I own NONE of the Circle of Magic characters or their branching characters. Just cause I want to own Briar doesn't mean I'm gonna steal him… How DARE you accuse me of something like that! The nerve! Hmph!

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Author's Note: This is a special treat! I normally wouldn't be updating a day after the previous chapter, but since I'll be gone for at LEAST 2 weeks, I thought I should let you guys read more into the story… and wet your appetites a bit more.

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**The Circle Reunited**

**Chapter Two: Treasure in the Flames**

Briar looked over to Daja.

"This is your area of magic. I'll try to stop any plants from feeding it," he said before falling into his rhythmic pattern of breathing. Daja stared at him in disbelief before turning to the girls.

"I can't stop the flames. I'm not a flame mage and I'm not stupid. I can contain them, but really, we need something to douse them," Daja told them, looking pointedly at Tris. Almost annoyed, the weather-witch rolled her eyes before speaking.

"Fine. But it'll take me a few minutes. Those clouds might have some water in them, but they'll need to combine if I'm to summon a storm. Give me five minutes, and I'll have it pouring buckets." That said, she looked to the sky, closed her eyes and immediately fell into the same rhythmic breathing as her foster brother. Daja soon followed after taking another look at the raging flames.

I will not just sit here, thought Sandry frustrated. She dug through her pockets and pulled out a large spool of thread. In her eyes, it gleamed with intense silver light. She had ordered it not to burn and thereby fireproofed it. Normally, she used it to lift pots from the fireplace. With a thought, and falling into the same rhythmic patterns as her foster-siblings, she moved forward toward the wreckage. Snake-like, her thread unraveled itself from the spool and slithered outward. It began to wrap itself around collapsed wood and move it out of the way. If she couldn't help stop the fire, she could at least search for survivors before they burned to death.

So it was that before the house, four eighteen-year old mages stood still breathing in unison. Every now and then Briar would wince as he lost a plant. Daja began to sweat as she held the fire. Sandry wrapped her thread around large flaming rubble and tossed it aside like paper. As they worked, the clouds turned black and any light that was left from the twilight vanished as these thunderstorm-clouds formed. With an almighty thunder-clap, rain began to fall. True to her word, Tris had summoned a storm so powerful that within seconds her friends and herself were drenched.

Tris opened her eyes first. She saw Sandry in the middle of the heap, clearing her path as she looked for survivors. She looked to Daja just as the smith mage opened her eyes. Briar was the last to open his eyes before looking around. He whistled.

"Wow. Now _this_ is what I call a storm," he said casually, causing a slight tinge of red to appear on Tris' cheeks. Slowly, very slowly, the flames began to die. Within minutes, all that was left of the fire was wood that glowed with the orange embers of the fire they had held.

"Yeah, and that's no joke," Daja commented squeezing water from her hair. In the end, that was useless since as soon as she went to work on another braid, the one she had just finished with was soaked again. She looked to the rubble which was now so drenched that there was no way any flames could be alive. "I'm pretty sure you can stop now."

Rolling her eyes, Tris said, "Do you _want_ me to kill myself? I can call them to me, I can shoo them along, and I can feed them. But I _cannot_ stop storms. They have to run their course."

"Right. But at the rate this is going, we're gonna have a flood," Briar told her, running a hand through his wet hair. "Let's just hope the sewers aren't already filled."

"They're not," Tris snapped. "It hasn't rained here in weeks! And we're right by a sea! Can you believe it! Clear skies for two weeks! And when the clouds finally come, it _still_ doesn't rain. Honestly!" As anyone who knew her was well aware of, Tris took clear skies as personal insults.

"Well can you at least stop me from getting wet? You can see through this shirt now."

"Oh, right," she said. It was true. His cotton shirt had become so wet that you could see through it. With a wave of her hand and a push with her mind, she formed a type of air-bubble around herself, Briar, and Daja. "Let's go find Sandry."

"That won't be hard," Briar said with a smirk, pointing as a large pile of rubble flew from one spot, thrown as if it were a pile of leaves. Fighting not to laugh, they set off in the clear path that Sandry had left behind herself.

Sandry stopped searching. She could not find anything or anyone to be saved. Her head hanging, she stood in place as her foster-siblings approached. When they did she turned to them. Had she been less depressed she would have laughed. "You are all soaked."

"No kidding," Briar said sarcastically. "I had no idea." Sandry's clothes were perfectly dry. As a thread mage, none of her clothes dared get wet, catch a stain, or so much as wrinkle in her presence. While they all were connected magically, they had separated their powers enough that they could not delve completely into the thread-magic that was Sandry's. "Mind helping us out?"

A shadow of a smile appearing on her face, she laid a hand on each of her friend's shoulders. Water drained itself from any cloth they were wearing immediately at her touch. Even their hair became dry as Sandry was able to manipulate her magic to think of the fibers of the hair as thread.

"Thanks," Daja, Briar, and Tris said together.

"You are welcome," Sandry said. She was silent for a moment before she continued. "It's sad. I'm _sure_ there are some survivors here. I can _feel_ it. But I can't _find_ anything."

"Well, four is better than one," Tris said sensibly. "I'm sure if we all look, we'll find something."

"Right," said Briar. "I'll take th-" He stopped in mid-sentence. From the corner of his eyes, he had seen something glitter. Turning his head, he looked to where it had been; as it had vanished when he tried to look directly at it. He unfocused his eyes and looked at everything while looking in nothing particular at the same time. Immediately he began to see specks of light. In this heap of wreckage, magic was dappled everywhere. Yet from the center of it all, small beams of light would escape its confines of debris.

"What?" Daja asked looking in the same direction. She opened her mouth to speak again before she closed it and said, "Oh."

"'Oh,' what?" Tris inquired, staring at her foster-siblings.

"Really, Tris," Briar retorted, "I would expect you to be the first to notice it. Whatever caused this fire was magical and it seems something magical, and powerful, is hidden under this rubbish." Without another word, they set off to work again. Tris and Daja used the wind to push the garbage out of their way. Sandry used the method she had used before, only now showing more care to where she flung the debris. Briar used his magic to scoop up wreckage as he would use a hoe to pick up dirt. It wasn't long before they overturned the last bit of garbage to reveal two children. Around them, magic gleamed.

Someone had placed some sort of barrier around them.

"They're naught but children," Sandry said. "They are lucky to be alive." Tris, Sandry, and Daja drew the gods circle on their chests. Briar moved closer to the children, still seeing the magic gleaming around them. He moved to touch it. Upon contact, he was thrown back several feet to land painfully on his backside. "And someone made sure these two would be safe," she added stopping herself from laughing as Briar got up and rubbed his rear.

"Daja? Think you can break it?" Briar asked, ignoring the grin on his foster-sister's faces. Daja nodded and walked up to the barrier, taking out a mallet from her mage's kit. Giving it magic, she knocked on the barrier which promptly shattered.

The four mages approached the children. Perhaps "children" was too hasty of a word to use to describe them. They had to be, at the very least, in their preteens. They both had short, jet-black hair that was wet from the storm going on around them. They wore no shoes and tattered clothes that had to be a result of the explosion that they had no doubt been trapped in. They seemed to be identical. In fact, as Briar, Daja and Sandry came closer, there was no doubt that they were identical.

They were twins.

Suddenly, rain poured on the plant mage, soaking him and two of his companions. Briar looked over to where Tris had been and was surprised to find no one there. Tris had stopped several feet behind them. Also wondering why the rain had suddenly started drenching them again, Daja and Sandry turned to look at the mage who was standing stock still. "What are you _doing_?" Briar asked in an exasperated tone.

"I don't do well with children," Tris said simply, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed.

"You've been dealing with kids all day," Briar pointed out.

"Not really. All I did was give them objects and see if magic responded. Their parents played with them."

"But they're unconscious," Briar said in a tone of unmistakable disbelief. "They're not going to hurt you." The weather-witch turned her head in a way that firmly said she was not moving any closer. Shaking his head, he moved closer to the children.

"Well if you will not come closer, at the very least open this bubble a bit more," Sandry said in a worried tone. "They are soaked and they will catch their death with this storm blowing about." While it was obvious she was not moving any closer, Tris did seem a bit worried about them dying. The air-bubble expanded to cover all of them once again.

Briar and Daja picked up one twin each and held them in their arms. Sandry tapped their shoulders and the water poured itself from the little cloth they were wearing. Almost as if it were an afterthought, the rags unwrinkled themselves. An eyebrow arched, Briar looked at Sandry who merely nodded. Returning his attention to the child in his arms, he readjusted his hold. Now closer, it was easy to tell that they were both boys as well.

"We should get them back to the manor," Briar said still looking down at the twin. "We need to get them clothed and their cuts and bruises need to be tended to."

"And judging from their weight, they need to be fed too," Daja added, Briar nodding in agreement. That said, they turned to return to their booths and their carts. The children were absolutely quiet as they walked. Well, almost. The twin that Briar held kept whispering to himself. Straining his ears, he was finally able to make out what the boy said:

"You promised…You promised…"

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Author's Note: Confused much? Well… if you are… that's good! You shouldn't know what he means by "you promised" anyway. Third chapter should be much more interesting than this one. 

Responses to Reviews:

Onyx-worrystone: Thank's for reviewing! You're my first reviewer and as such, you get a prize! You get to ask one question about what's been presented so far. E-mail me or YIM me and I'll answer the question. Be careful what you ask for! Alright, in response to you're questions here: Tris is being a magic-finder here. You don't have to be good with children to do that. All she's doing is handing them different objects to see if any magic gets excited when they do touch it. In The Will of the Empress, she makes it clear that she doesn't like it that she's the only one without something to put on the table. And I haven't read Shatterglass… I'm getting it for my birthday along with HP6! Woo! But thanks for telling me that. It actually helped me in a sequence here. And yes, The Will of the Empress will be coming out September 28th here. There, they are 16. I made them older so as not to conflict with too much with WotE. I know I inevitably will clash with something there, but I'm trying to avoid it as much as possible. If there's anything else I should know about Tris' personality that I wouldn't gather from the other books, would you mind terribly telling me? If you can't, it won't matter much since I won't be able to update after this until mid-July. Yay for summer programs! Thanks for reviewing again.

The Golden Shadow: Well, with a summer program coming up, I won't be able to update frequently until August, at which time I hope to have a new Chapter up every 1-3 weeks. Hopefully. I can promise you I'll work on it during the summer program I'm in now so that all I have to do is type it up. And you're wondering what Tris was doing at her booth? Well, she was testing to see if the children had magic in them. Hehehe… nice thinking though. I hope this chapter efficiently answers what manor was burning. Thanks for reviewing!

Fic-fan: Well, he's possessive of his _shakkan_. As for the ones he's selling, he's as attached to them as Daja would be attached to a sword she might make or something. He cares about it, but he has to let it go so that it can gain the experience that _shakkans_ are supposed to get. He might not like who he's selling it to, but as long as they can afford it or the _shakkan_ asks to go to them, he won't refuse to sell them one unless the _shakkan_ protests. _Shakkans_ are supposed to be expensive and as such, he's probably used to dealing with "bags" as he calls them. So… he's probably used to the attitude. It's nice that you're paying attention to detail though. Thanks for reviewing!

Aku Maru: Can't wait until you read them. Thanks for reviewing!

Cat: Thanks for telling me. Its fixed. And thanks for the review!


	3. Strange Happenings

_**Disclaimer : Look. I am NOT claiming ownership of her magnificent characters okay! Jeez!**_

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**Author's Note**: I was wondering what you guys think. Should I do a little "Next Chapter Teaser" thing at the end of each Chapter so that you have a vague idea of what's to come. Tell me what you think.

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**The Circle Reunited**

**Chapter Three: Strange Happenings**

A week had passed since they had found the two children; and in that week, neither had awakened. What was strange was that Briar had performed every test he knew of, and that was saying something. Despite this, he could not determine an illness that was keeping them sleep for such an extended amount of time.

After the plant mage had given up on finding an illness (as they were not losing weight and had no symptoms of any disease), the mages took shifts in watching the sleeping children. For the most part, they had no qualms doing it. Whenever it was their shifts, they would preoccupy themselves with something they normally would leave their study hours for. Sandry carried a journal and thread with her with every watching, attempting to discover new thread spells. Daja normally wrote letters to her girlfriend in the North; when she was not writing letters, she too would attempt to create new spells specific to the art of Smith-craft. Briar would bring in his _shakkans_ to be trimmed along with other plants to be tended to. Sometimes he would bring his cauldron and his ingredients to re-make any potions they might have been running low on. Tris, as usual, took a book with her to read; but she too brought a journal with her. She recorded any weather changes in it and also attempted to discover new spells. After her study at the University school, she had brought back her knowledge of spell-making to her friends.

It was in the third week of Barley Moon that the twins began to stir. On the eve of Cold Born, as the moon began to rise, the twin that had whispered into Briar's ear about a promise, shifted to lie on his side, facing his brother. As if he were a mirror reflection, the other twin shifted so that he was also facing his double.

Sandry's head dropped and rose as she began to slip in and out of unconsciousness.

"You can get up now," Briar said quietly. Though he had long given up his belief that the twins would awaken with too much noise, Daja and Tris were sleeping and he would rather not irritate two great mages.

Sandry snapped out of her reverie.

"I'm not sleeping," she said defensively. "I was just… just…,"she managed before yawning broadly.

"Right," Briar retorted, smirking. "Don't worry about it. Doesn't look like I missed much…but…," he paused. He looked at the twins. Outside, bells began to ring as they announced midnight. "They've changed position," he finished. Sandry did not look like she largely cared abut the changed position of the children. She merely nodded before he headed for the door. The sixth ring chimed just as Sandry reached the door. Turning his attention to the sleeping brood, Briar muttered, "You know, you two really ought to wake up…." The twelfth ring resounded, echoing around utterly silent city.

Once the sound of the bell had stopped, two pairs of eyelids snapped open to reveal strange blue eyes. They both seemed to have an intimidating intensity about them; light blue with flecks of dark blue.

"You promised!" gasped the same boy as before, sitting straight up. His brother slowly rose from his sleeping position and curiously looked around. Sandry froze in the doorway and turned around.

"And what, prêt ell, have I promised you?" Briar asked an eyebrow arched in a startling resemblance to Rosethorn as Sandry made her way over to the twins. The boy's head jerked to look at the plant-mage and his mouth opened to speak, but his brother placed his hand over his mouth as if stopping him from saying something stupid. His hand still over his brother's mouth, he spoke.

"Who are you?" he asked in a clearly baffled tone that, at the same time, was gentle and soothing. Sandry and Briar exchanged looks.

_I have half a mind to ask _them_ that_, Briar told Sandry through thought. His response was a stern, _Don't you _dare_ be rude to those two. They've been through a horrible ordeal._ They both looked back to the twins who were shielding their eyes. Briar looked behind him at the candles. Reasoning that had he been asleep for a week his eyes would be a bit sensitive, he looked at Sandry and jerked his head. With a look at the candlewicks, the light extinguished itself. It seemed to have worked as they timidly blinked their eyes open.

"I am Briar Moss," he told them, deciding it best not to worry them about his being a mage. "And this is–"

"—Lady Sandrilene fa Toren," she finished. "May I ask who you are?" She asked gently.

"My name is Vitalis Gerik," said the boy who had placed his hand over his brother's mouth. "This is my brother–"

"—I can speak for myself, Vito," interrupted the other. "My name is Justis Gerik. Where are we?"

"You are in the infirmary of our manor in Summersea, Emelan," Briar informed them. Vito and Justis looked at each other before Justis pulled his legs under himself and Vito asked, his voice breaking, "Are our parents alright?" Though Briar may have missed it, Sandry noticed it was a question to which they already knew the answer.

"You two were the only ones we could find in what was left of your home," Sandry said sadly. "Do you remember what happened?"

The expression of fear in both of the twins' eyes told her that they remembered all too well what happened. Nevertheless, Vito spoke. "I remember being in the cell—I mean, our room and our parents had an argument with our ma—I mean, our landlord. Then… it's kind of fuzzy after that." Briar did not need to be a Truthsayer to know that they were lying. Sandry shared the same look on her face before she shook her head "no" at Briar.

"I think it's best you two go back to sleep now," Briar said in an uncanny Rosethorn-like tone. "You've been asleep for a week, true, but it's late. You'll need all the sleep you can get. You've got some questions to answer tomorrow."

"But _I'm_ not sleepy and _you're_ not my father," Justis said scathingly.

Briar's eyebrows rose high enough that it almost disappeared into his hair. He advanced on Justis and lowered his head so that they were eye-level. "Listen," he hissed, "I don't really like kids and I'm beginning to like you even less, so I suggest you go to sleep!"

"No!" Justis said defiantly, though the fact that his voice was cracking showed he was scared. "You think just because you're a mage that you can just order us around and–"

"—Now!" Briar ordered. Justis flinched, covering his face as if expecting heavy punishment for his insolence. Seeing this, Briar sighed. "Look. I'm not going to hurt you… unless, of course, you give me a reason to. Rudeness, while I don't like it, isn't enough for that here." Those words, however, did not stop him from drawing his legs to his chest in the same manner as his brother.

"How did you know I was a mage anyway?" Briar asked as an afterthought. Neither said anything, but both stared in the same direction… his chest. At the moment, Briar was bare-chested except for one thing. "Oh… the medallion. Well, yeah, that is a giveaway… I didn't know kids your age would recognize something like this." Shrugging, he turned to the door. Sandry had fallen asleep on her feet. Shaking his head, he looked back to the twins. "Really. You should try to at least get some rest. Trust me. If you don't, by tomorrow morning, you'll wish you had."

With that, he turned and scooped up Sandry to take her to her room. The twins laid down to rest, but it would be hours before their minds would stop chattering and they would actually drift off into sleep.

Vito and Justis woke the next morning to being shaken by Sandry and Briar.

"Wake up you two, unless you want to starve," Briar ordered as they protested to the early awakenings. Sandry scowled at Briar's less than kind words, but agreed.

"Yes. It is probably best that you eat something for today. You have a lot of people here to see you," Sandry informed them as she gently shook Vito. Briar, however, was getting frustrated at their stubbornness.

"If you don't wake right now, I will cover you both in poison ivy!"

Those words seemed to work as the twins' eyes snapped open and they sat up in their beds. As Justis wiped the sleep out of his eyes, Vito turned his head to Briar and said, "Who has to speak with us? We don't have many people who know us."

"These people are here to inquire about your health," Sandry explained.

"Among other things," Briar added. "Such as what made your home explode and what mage placed that ward around you. Then we have to figure out if there are any relatives that we can send you to—"

"—There aren't any relatives you can send us to," Justis interjected with a touch of bitterness in his voice. "Any relatives we have are either dead or are—"

"—Unable to care for us," Vito finished for him, shooting a glare at his twin. Justis' eyes rose for a second as if just realizing something. He nodded slowly to his twin and drew his legs into his chest and stared at the wall in front of him.

Sandry and Briar shared significant looks. They did not need to mind speak to let each other know that the twins were trying to hide something from them. Briar opened his mouth to speak, but Sandry rose a hand to stop him. Under normal circumstances, he would not have responded to what appeared to be an order. Unfortunately, it seemed his vocal cords were refusing to work. He looked, wide-eyed at Sandry who smiled before she spoke.

"Alright. You two need to get washed and—"

"Excuse me?" Justis asked looking at her in shock. "You want us to do what?"

"Get washed. You are _not_ going to come to breakfast dirty."

"And _you_ slob," added Briar, who now had now regained control of his vocal cords, to Justis.

"But… are you sure that's sanitary? It seems questionable to me. I mean, without a good layer of dirt, how can we protect ourselves against sickness and such?"

"No disease would _dare_ enter his household," Briar said sharply, as though he were talking to the diseases in question. "And without proper washing, you're much more likely to get sick than not.

"I've never been sick a day in my life!"

"Then you are a very lucky boy," Sandry said, interrupting the argument. "The simple fact is, you will bathe. The baths for this floor are just across the hall. After that, you will get dressed. I have taken the liberty of making you some clothes to wear until I can get your exact dress sizes. After that, you will come downstairs to the first floor and follow your noses to the food. And then you will eat. This is _not_ a request," she added when Justis opened his mouth. He closed it instantly and scowled.

"And luckily for you, I haven't bathed yet, so I'll be right outside the door when you come out," Briar told them with a look that Justis determined to be pure evil. "Just because you don't want to bathe don't mean we should have to smell you." That said, he turned and walked briskly out of the room. Sandry looked as if she wanted to say something but, instead, forced a smile and left the room.

"Just who do they think they are!" Justis exploded when the door closed. "They think just cause they're mages that they can boss us around. Well, I don't care what they're offering! We're not staying here!" Jumping out of the bed, he strode over to the window. The threw it open and immediately found two reasons why going out the window was not smart. First, they happened to be on the third floor of the manor, just under the attic. Secondly, opening the window invited smells of cooking food into the infirmary; and for two stomachs that had not eaten in days it was painful teasing. Justis' face just hardened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Vito cut him off.

"Justis," he said, his voice ever-gentle. "I'm starving, we have no where to go, and more importantly, I'm starving. Besides, you know the master would never let us sit at his table if we didn't wash up a bit and—"

"—He would never let sit at his table. And if we did, it was only when—"

"—AND I don't know why you expect these mages to be any different," Vito pressed on, raising his voice but somehow still managing to keep it soft. "These rich people… they're all the same… they're very… _clean_ people. So we're going to bathe. It's not going to kill us, Justis," he added at the face his brother made, "but not eating will."

"I still don't like them."

"Then don't," Vito said cheerfully. "We can eat, and if you have a plan of where we are going to go, we can leave then. But until you know where to take us, we're staying here." It seemed that if there were one person in the world that Justis would willingly listen to it was his brother. Without another word, he walked out of the room and into the bathroom. Grabbing the towels and bathrobes Sandry had left, he followed his brother into the bathroom.

While Briar was less than nice, it seemed he was true to his word. When the twins came out of the bathroom, the cleanest they had been in months, Briar was sitting in a chair reading a book; upon seeing them exit, he slammed it shut. They got a brief glimpse of the illustration of a cauldron with sparks and smoke coming from it before he put it at his side.

"Have fun did we?" Instead of a response, one of the twins, Justis by the attitude simply stormed off to the opposite room.

"I had to wash him myself," Vito explained with a grin. "He didn't appreciate it."

"I'm sure," Briar said, his tone filled with humor before he entered the bathroom.

The twins entered the dining room of the manor to several people they had never before seen in their lives. There was a man who looked a bit too proper and, in the words of the few friends they had met on the street, baggish; he was obviously no getting old, as the silver streaks in his black hair indicated. He was talking to a woman in a blue habit who, while she seemed much less stiff than he did, had an official feel about her. There was also a cinnamon-skinned woman with who was talking to a man with a wiry mane of graying hair. Another woman with red hair braided and pinned in what seemed a specific pattern set the table along with Sandry and another woman with short, black curls while a transparent creature glided over their heads. In a corner, a small girl played with a dog that looked big enough that the girl would serve as a good meal. Briar was talking to a woman with short auburn hair.

Justis and Vito stood in the doorway for a long time, staring at the people in the room before Sandry noticed them and ushered them in.

"Alright everyone," she called out over the chatter. Everyone's head turned to her and the twins, and their identical faces blushed. "This is…," she stopped, looking intently at them before she continued. "Well, one of these two is Justis Gerik and the other is Vitalis Gerik. Who is whom I couldn't tell you just yet. If they ever find their voices, we'll know," she said kindly.

She directed them over to the girl and the dog.

"This is Glaki and Little Bear," she told them. Glaki smiled broadly, stood, and stuck her hand straight out for them to shake. Vito took the hand first, and shook it followed at once by his brother. And from there it went. They were introduced to the woman Briar was talking to: Rosethorn. Immediately, they noticed the unmistakable resemblance in their personalities. While she was far from rude, she also had the heir of someone not to fool with. They were introduced to Lark; the woman with the short black hair. She, it seemed, was a direct juxtaposition to Rosethorn. She seemed completely inviting and even managed to get them to mumble their names. They were introduced to Tris, the woman with the braided, patterned hair and her pet dragon; who, on second glance, turned out to be made completely of glass. They met Daja and Frostpine, both of whom seemed to warm their hearts in welcome in the handshake they gave. The woman in the blue habit was introduced as Honored Moonstream: The Head of the Winding Circle. And then there was the last man.

"Niklaren Goldeye," he introduced himself extending a hand. When Justis took his hand, he felt something strange. Niko looked into his eyes in a strange manner. It lasted only a second, but Vito also experienced this searching-for-more gaze. They looked at each other and were sure they could hear each other's thoughts about what they thought of this man: definitely powerful and definitely not someone whose buttons you wanted to push.

"Now that that's done," Sandry said so suddenly that the twins, still in awe of the man before them, jumped, "we should eat breakfast. Everyone to the table." Breakfast was full of chatter for most people present. In fact, the only ones who were quiet while they ate were Justis and Vito; even Glaki was, more or less, talking with Niko and Tris. They both ate their breakfast slowly, Justis looking around observing people. He found it striking how much Sandry and Briar were like their teachers. He noticed that Niko and Tris kept glancing in their direction and, after a while, it began to annoy him and he concentrated on eating his food. They remained silent when they finished their meals, though both of their stomachs craved more food. Shaking her head, Tris rose and came to the twins. Without a word, she restocked their plates with eggs, toast, porridge, and ham; their cups she refilled with milk. Still showing their restraint, they mumbled thanks in unison and continued to eat.

"You know," she said irritably, "No one is going to starve you here. If you are hungry, eat. You two are nothing but skin and bones anyway." Without waiting for a response, she returned to her seat with her teacher who greeted her with an amused expression. In fact, the same look was planted on the faces of her foster family as well. "Do _not_ start!" she said, glaring at her family. They merely returned to their conversations, the look still on their faces. They were sure they heard her say to Niko that just because she did not like children that she liked to see them starve.

When everyone was done eating and properly full, Frostpine took Glaki out into the city, saying that he would find something sweet for her to eat. When they left, Justis and Vito were very uncomfortable to find every eye in the room focused on them. Instantaneously, the twins were put on guard. A scowl decorated Justis' brows while Vito's eyes were turned to the ground, seemingly very interested in whatever was there.

"Do we _owe_ you now?" Justis asked bluntly, bitterness dripping from every word.

"Of course no—," Sandry started before Briar cut in.

"—Yes, actually," he said, his boring into the hateful blue eyes that were now directed at him. "You see, we have guests here for you; specifically Honored Moonstream and Niko. And you will—"

"—We _ask_," Sandry interrupted, "that you cooperate with them. Honored Moonstream is here to evaluate your health. You understand of course, do you not? You were out cold for a week without food or drink. We have to make sure it hasn't damaged you in any way. And then our teacher, Master Niklaren Goldeye, has a couple of questions for you."

"Are _we_ expected to call him _master_?" Justis demanded.

"Hardly," Niko responded. "I would rather you not use that title, in fact. I have no power over you and you do not know me well enough for me to demand your respect and thus, I do expect you to call me by my name." This seemed to satisfy Justis as he stopped asking questions; his scowl, however, was more prominent than ever.

Attempting to break the tension that, surprisingly, two young children had created, Moonstream spoke. "So, we should get to it, should we not?"

"Quite right," Sandry agreed. Moonstream rose from her seat gracefully and say next to Vito.

"Vitalis, isn't it?" He looked up, surprised she had recognized the difference between them so quickly; he nodded. "May I have your hand?" She said it in a manner that was unbelievably gentle; certainly more than even Vito who always spoke in that tone. He found himself unable to deny her the simple request; the gentleness of her voice made him feel that if he did not oblige her request that he would be the largest jerk of the century. She smiled as she took it and closed her eyes; seemingly following her lead, Justis and Vito closed their eyes as well.

The magic she summoned conjured a feeling of peace throughout the entire room, making those who were already full and sleepy dose off. When she stopped, gradually drawing her power back into herself, some in the room had to restrain themselves from protesting. She opened her eyes at the same time the twins did. She sat back and frowned before she spoke again. "Well, aside from the fact that I'm not able to explore every part of your being, you are physically perfectly healthy." The way she told them this, it seemed more like she was talking to herself than anyone else.

Shaking her head slightly, she moved to sit next to Justis and asked him in the same tone as she had asked Vito, she asked, "Justis? Would you mind terribly if I took your hand?" Despite that he had heard that tone before, his eyebrows still rose slightly at her words and it seemed he was unconsciously lifting his hand to give to her. As she closed her eyes, the twins did the same once again.

The same calm surrounded the room once more and this time, Briar really did fall asleep and fell out of his chair before rising, an embarrassed tinge on his cheeks. This time, instead of the calm gradually vanishing, it stopped quite abruptly, and everyone's heads, except the twins', snapped up. Timidly, they opened their eyes as well. "Oh, really now," she said, her voice slightly impatient. Looking even more incredulously at the twins, she said, "Well, again, you are in perfect health, but when I tried for a more detailed analysis, I was pushed out." He looked at the twins again, each in turn, with the very same look Niko had given them upon their first meeting. "And neither of you have magic, so it makes little sense. I suppose your parents, or whomever put this spell on you, did not like those that pried," she finished with a smirk.

Neither of the twins shared her humor.

"Well then," she continued, "I had best be getting back to the Winding Circle. I am sure that my office is full in the few hours that I have been absent." She rose from her seat with the grace of the healer that she was. Tris escorted her to the door and returned moments later to Niko and Justis seemingly having a staring contest. It was only when Tris took her seat that he said anything.

"She was certainly right," he said as if making a grand pronouncement. "You have no magic in you and yet, magic stops working on you two at a certain point. I'll have to investigate that at a certain point. In any case, we should begin." In the air, he drew out symbols which immediately began to glow with a pale light, emitting a smell of cinnamon; everyone in the room squinted. "Right. So, just to test if it is working properly, what are your names?"

"Justis Gerik."

"Vitalis Gerik."

The symbols released a soft white light, showing they were telling the truth. Niko looked at Briar and then at the twins before saying, "If you are able, I need you to tell a lie."

"Briar is the most idiotic and numb-brained person in this house," Justis said, showing no signs that he was not serious. The symbols again glowed a pale white light, showing he was telling the truth. An uproar of laughter exploded when this happened; the only ones not amused were Briar and the twins.

"It will not say you are lying if you truly believe it," Niko told him between chuckles.

"But I don't think that's true," Justis said defensively. "I don't know him enough to say that and mean it. He could very well be the most brilliant person in this house." At his words, the symbols turned black. Laughter again shook the room at the Truth-Saying Spell's response.

"Well, it certainly seems that you do not believe he is the most brilliant person here either. So, on with the questions. Where were you born?"

Looking at Vito, he shrugged and said, "We don't know. We think we were born in this city, but we could be wrong. I know it's the only place we ever remember living." And so the questions continued. They were asked about basic stuff: their beliefs, their likes, their dislikes, whether they had ever stolen anything, about their parents and whether they were living or not. Yet Niko finally asked a question that got to the twins and that they could not answer honestly.

"Did they die of old age?" He asked gently, though not nearly as gentle as Moonstream or Vito.

"No," they both said at once, in unison, this being the first time Vito spoke up. The symbols glowed a bright white light, showing not only were they not lying, but there was more to the story.

"How did they die?" He asked, ever-gentler.

"We don't know," they both said bitterly, surprising most in the room. The looks the donned their faces with the response was nothing with the reaction when the symbols turned jet black. Niko's eyes widened and he looked closer at the twins. Before he asked his next question. "Did you kill your parents?"

"NO!" they shouted. The white light resonated brilliantly, giving everything in the room a lighter color before it returned to its soft glow. Tris stood to close the window which was rattling in an intense wind that had picked up.

Niko looked thoughtful before he asked, "Were your parents killed?"

Justis opened his mouth to speak, but Vito placed a hand on his shoulder and said simply, "Yes."

"I see," he told them, sitting back in his chair. Silence overtook the room as they waited for Niko's interrogation to continue. It seem, however, that Niko had received all the knowledge he was going to get from the children on the subject. Again boring his eyes into Justis', he asked his next question. "Briar and Sandry tell me that you rarely bathe. So, if I may ask… were you slaves?"

The twins gave no response. Instead, their gaze was focused on the truth-symbols which were giving off a color they had yet to see. It had turned a blood red and was getting brighter by the second. Niko's eyes widened in what could only be described as pure shock before the symbols glowed bright red and vanished in a flare of flame that left a scent of sulfur in its disappearance. The mage quickly regained his composure, only saying, "Strange."

After many minutes in silence, Lark finally spoke. "Well, I think that is enough questions for one day, don't you think?" Niko nodded in agreement, rubbing his beard in a thoughtful manner. "Would you two mind staying here with these four until we can assess your situation?" Vito and Justis exchanged a look and nodded to Lark. "And not try to run away?" she asked gently. Justis' looked surprised that she had even mentioned it and again looked at his brother and again, they nodded. "Well then," she continued. "The library is on the second floor if either of you are interested. The gardens are outside through the kitchen. Whatever you do, we need you men to leave now; you are all hopeless in the kitchen and we need to start to prepare the Cold Born Feast."

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**Author's Afternote**: I am so sorry about how long this took. My free time turned out to be a lot less than expected this summer. Well, I hope I've planted a few more questions in your heads. Oh, also I apologize to those of you who don't like long chapters. Its just that my chapters only end when they end, so… yeah… this will probably be one of my longer ones.

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**Response to Reviews**:

The Golden Shadow: Glad you liked the chapter. And in my opinion, its going to get vary interesting, especially when I make the sequels to this fic (I plan to do 4 in total of The Circle Reunited… and then another series I can only tell you about after I finish the first 3 fics). The summer program was long… and fun at times (it was a scholarship internship thingy)… the $1000 stipend was cool. Thanks for the review!

Newfoundhope: Well, they're still teenagers. Think senior in high school. Hopefully the reader won't have much of a problem relating to them still. If they do, the new characters are quite young and are the center of this story. And yes… this took me much longer than I expected to update. Yesterday, I decided to stay up until 2 to finish it. I only had to finish the last three pages and respond to the reviews. Thanks for the review!

Tessadragon: Wow. Thanks. Erm… yeah… I'm not sure what else to say and I'm rarely one to be tongue-tied. Hm… I suppose what I can say is _Adulatio mos adeptos undique_. Thanks for the review!

Jinks: Yeah… I finally read Shatterglass. But it seems while Tris is not motherly with children, she does care about them and I hope I properly portrayed that in this chapter. As far as Briar and his trees, I'll say the same thing as before: _Shakkans_ must travel to gather the wisdom and knowledge and magic they are known for. I think he's more protective of his own _Shakkan_ than anything else, but he's not going to refuse the sell unless the tree objects. Oh, and thanks for saying you'd help. I might take you up on it. I'm gonna need a beta reader to tell me what they think of my chapters. Thanks for the review!

Gatermage: Thanks. I find that towards the beginning of fics, its an excellent way to keep the readers reading. Introduce questions, answer them, introduce more, leave them hanging. It's a good strategy. Thanks for the review!

From the front desk: NP about the spelling. I have problems with it too. And thanks for the review! I was going to a coherent continuation of the Circle Series and I'm glad you think its believable.

Elentariel: Well, I think you should have more a clue-in as to what he's talking about. If not, it'll be answered sooner or later. I'll start working on Chapter 4 tomorrow. My site Administrators are gonna kill me if I don't start working some more on the site stuff, but I think I'll split my schedule. By day, I'll work on my site stuff, by night I'll work on this fic. Fair enough? Thanks for the review!

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**Author Request**: I am thinking of having beta readers - two I think. If you are interested, please email me or tell me in your review. Or, you can IM me on Yahoo! Instant Messenger student2lawyer 


	4. The Cold Born Feast Revelation

_**Disclaimer : Yada Yada Yada… Tamora Pierce is a genius… Yada Yada Yada… Original Characters are mine… Yada Yada Yada… Me no steal… yada yada yada… might see some Harry Potter reference stuff in here…not big… not mine… that's JK Rowling's… but if you actually recognize it, you read her books way too much… like me…**_

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the wait guys. I've been finding it increasingly difficult to focus my time to writing this. Not to worry though! My editor for the book I'm writing has agreed to make me stick to my schedule (I'm supposed to work on this story for an hour Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and for a couple hours Saturday). Hopefully, this will make it so that the chapters come out quicker (especially with me working on it 4/7 days). In any case…You guys never answered the question! Would you like a little "Next Chapter Teaser" at the end of each chapter or would you rather me not do it? Also, I HAVE read The Will of the Empress, but because I began this story before then, and though I am loathe to do it, I must leave the new characters we know of out of this story. The only one who will make occasional appearances will be Glaki.

**The Circle Reunited**

**Chapter Four: The Cold Born Feast Revelation**

A bumblebee buzzed lazily through the air – dipping lower here, higher there – of the expansive outdoor garden. Almost as if it were a last-minute decision, the bee dropped swiftly towards a clutter of roses. Following its trail was a blonde boy who dropped to his knees to examine the beautiful plants in awe.

"I've never seen such a beautiful garden," he mumbled to himself. Inspired to pick one of the flowers and give it to his brother, who would not appreciate its beauty but would at least pretend to care, he reached out to touch a plump rose-bud. At his touch, the flower promptly bloomed. Vito pulled his hand back swiftly; so much so one would think he had been burned. Shaking his head, knowing he could not possibly alter something so beautiful, he rose from his kneeling position and wandered further into the garden. As he did so, he began to smell tea-leaves whose scent he promptly followed. It led him into a new part of the garden. At its gate, there was a mat on the ground that, in near childish handwriting, formed the words:

"_Enter, but do NOT touch. _

_You Touch, You Die."_

It was all too obvious that it was Briar's garden. It was a strange concept to Vito. For his entire life, his mother had been the one to tend to the garden. Never had he ever so much as _seen_ a man in the gardens. Yet here was this man, a mage no less, who appeared to dedicated months, if not years, to the maintenance of the garden and who was apparently quite possessive of it. These thoughts crossed his mind as he passed High Cranberry, Rue, Passionflower, German Chamomile, Marigold, Garden Balsam, a clutter of Elderberry trees, Marshmallow plant, and Common Sage. The young boy came to halt as he realized he recognized many plants in the garden – most of which he had never seen before. There was, however, a common theme throughout the entire garden: Healing. Every plant that bloomed from the ground had a healing quality to it that did not require the use of magic. He also noticed, though he was sure it was his imagination, that the plants were happy to see him. Shaking his head, his blue eyes landed on a door with an entrance covered in large, thorny vines and briars. Above the door, the sign read:

"_Death awaits those that enter…"_

Whoever is crazy enough to try to get through that deserves to die anyway, thought Vito looking warily at the plants. Nevertheless, the blonde stepped closer to the plant-door in an attempt to gain a glimpse of what was in the garden. Was it his imagination or did the vines suddenly become thicker? I really wish I could get through these vines though, he thought stepping away. As if the vines were responding to his very thoughts, the slithered and pulled themselves away from the archway entrance.

"Okay… that's just weird," he said aloud. Apparently, it was no weird enough to curb his curiosity. Slowly, cautiously, he entered the room which, unsurprisingly, was yet another garden. Yet this was no normal garden. It was quite far from normal.

The first thing Vito noticed was the impossibility of the size of the room. The room he had entered looked as if it were acres wide instead of the small size it should have been. The second thing he noticed was the plants – some of which had a mind of their own. He saw large bulbs of a peculiar plant bouncing excitedly. There were large leafless plants with large boils that wriggled in the ground they had sprouted from. In the distance, a forest of strange trees decorated the edge of the massive garden the strangest of which seemed to be a willow that was thrashing the ground violently. An entire patch of pink pods sat plump to the right of another patch of large, spiky, dark-red, plant with vines that wriggled in Vito's direction. He was forced to stuff his hands inside his pockets after a yellow geranium bit him sharply on his index finger.

Every plant seemed to have a special quality about it that made it stand out; all except these small tuffs of leaves that stuck out of the ground in, seemingly, random places. Thinking them weeds, something unsightly in a garden such as this, he reached to pull the leaves out from the ground near the bouncing bulbs.

As he gathered all the leaves in his hand, a voice said loudly, "Unless you wish suffer the painful death of a mandrake's scream, I would sincerely reconsider pulling that plant from the ground." Standing in the archway door, his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed in a frown, Briar glared at the young boy.

"Perhaps I should elaborate. When a mandrake screams, unless you have magical protection against the harms of a plant, the shrill scream you hear will cause your brain to begin bleeding. Blood will pour from your nostrils, your ears, and your mouth. You will die. The sign was not lying when it said death awaits you. Had you neared the trees over there you may have been poisoned, strangled, or thrashed to death. Had you neared the pond over there, you may have been drowned. If you had gotten any closer to this large dark-red plant, it would have ensnared you, poisoned you, and then strangled you while you dealt with the nasty effect of the poison." Walking over to Vito, he asked him, "How were you able to enter here anyway. The Forbitor Vines should have been plenty to deter you."

"The what?" Vito asked quietly.

"The vines that covered the entrance. How did you get pass it?"

With a voice that was almost inaudible, he answered, "They moved." Briar's frown deepened for a moment before the expression lightened and his eyebrows rose in wonder and, what may have been, disbelief. Rubbing his chin, he muttered, "He _couldn't_ be wrong. He has _never_ been wrong. It's impossible. And yet…."

_At the same time…._

There had to be hundreds of them. No…. there had to be thousands!

Never before had Justis ever seen such a grand library. Even at his… last place of residence… the library had not been so large. As he passed along the shelves, he noticed books on every subject from the Aurora lights to Zephyr. He was going to pull out a book that read: _Swordplay: A Beginner's Guide to Handling a Sword_ when a door, that blended in so well with the shelves of the library that he almost missed it, caught his eye. Walking up to it, he felt around for a knob. He scowled as he was unable to find one and pounded his fist against the wooden door. He turned to return to his book about swordsmanship when he heard a scraping sound and saw the door sliding to the left. Slowly, cautiously, he entered the hidden room to find a miniature library. Not even a second after he had crossed the threshold, the door behind him slid swiftly forward and locked into position.

Lanterns of blue light sprang to life.

At least a hundred books covered the wall to his left and another hundred covered the wall to his right. Perhaps wall was not the right word, however. The room was quite circular and, thus, the only thing that separated the two walls was the door and the opposite wall that was the same width as the door he had just entered through. In the main library there had been a few scrolls, a few gatherings of parchment that had been bound together, and a few books that had leather bindings. In this small library, there was distinct difference with these books: every single book was leather bound. They seemed, there was no other word for it, majestic.

He ran his hand along the books as he walked around and randomly chose a book and opened it. The first line that caught his eye read: "_Ambient Mages are the hardest of mages to find. Those with the ability to see magic can find them with a bit of effort. Yet there are many ambient mages who, because their gift is so rare, never find their magic. Among them…_"

As if he had touched something hot, the blonde dropped the book. Disgusted that he had read something about magic, and disgusted at himself for being intrigued, he used his index finger and thumb to pick the thick book up as if it were a dirty loincloth and returned it to its shelf. Justis turned to exit the way he came and found that he had no idea how he would go about that task. He was sure that the door had to be pushed in first and then it slid away. Only… he was on the inside.

How do I get myself into these situations, he scolded himself angrily. As he shook his head, he saw the light from the blue flames glinting on something on the door. Slowly, cautiously, he approached the glittering object. He saw that it was some sort of metal; only, in the blue light, it was impossible to tell what type of metal. He reached out to touch it, thinking that he would have a better idea if he could get a feel for the metal; if he were going to be stuck in the room, he might as well find something to entertain himself.

Upon contact with the metal, which he determined to be silver, his hairs immediately stood on end. Sparks began to emit from the strange object and, out of pure instinct, Justis dropped to the ground to lay flat. Not a second later, lightning poured from the silver charm and slammed into the opposite wall. Justis watched in horror as it created red-hot scorch marks in the stone.

It lasted for a full minute, which seemed to last an eternity for Justis, before the lightning ceased. Blue eyes stared at the wall that, strangely enough, seemed to have very specific symbols now engraved into it. While he did not recognize they symbols, he made note of them both. One seemed to be a pole with a side-ways triangle attached and the other appeared to be a pole that was bent in opposite ways at the ends. The fact that he remembered it was to be admired as, only seconds after the lightning stopped, the wall vanished.

Hesitantly, he rose from the ground and sighed when he did not feel the tense feeling in the air that had warned him of the lightning. He did not, however, rush into this room. Instead, he slowly crossed the threshold and jumped back, making sure he would not be trapped in this room as well. When no door slammed shut, he re-entered the room and looked around, glad to be out of the small, cramped, pantry-like room.

If the books in the other room had appeared to be majestic to Justis, these books seemed to shine with a royal light. This room, however, had to be more of a study than another library. Indeed, the desk near the back which had a shelf full of white scrolls and the shelf below filled with ink indicated a place of academia. Yet the living area to the left of this corner indicated a place of refuge and comfort. In fact, the books that _were_ in this room only filled two single shelves on the wall on either side of the entrance. Each of these books was bound in gold. And they were thick. They were quite thick, in fact. So thick, that only ten could fit on each of those shelves. Greedily, he reached for one of the gold-bound books on his left.

"Unless you wish to suffer a long, excruciating death by electrocution, I suggest not touching that book," said a sharp, almost cold, voice from behind. Justis jumped back so quickly, he tripped over his own feet and tumbled to the ground. As he looked up, back at the miniature library he had come from, his face burning with embarrassment, a red-head, with braids in many designs and pinned up in a specific way, looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Just how did you get in here anyway?"

Justis visibly flinched under her gaze. It would not be honest to say he did not know why she frightened him, but he certainly was not going to admit it to himself. He attempted to convince himself it was her cold voice that made him afraid to answer her, but it was futile. In truth, she reminded him of…well, it did not matter. Hopefully, he would think he had died and would forget he had ever existed. He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not realize that he had just finished telling Tris exactly how it was that he ended up in her private study.

"Oh, but that is simply impossible," she said at once. "If you are going to lie to me, you could at the very least make the lie believable. Only someone with magic can activate the opening amulet, Justis. Although," she continued, more to herself than to Justis, "It is the only way to enter my study… and Niko could _not _be wrong… I must have made a mistake with the spell. In any case, the feast is ready. Go! Now!" The young boy did not need to be told twice as he scrambled to his feet and ran out the door.

The twins arrived at the dining room at the same time and froze in the doorframe. The sight that greeted them was enough to make a beggar feel that he were in heaven.

At the center of the dining room, the table was cluttered with an expanse of food. At either end of the table, rolls of bread formed small pyramids next to the twin suckling pigs that opposed each other. Bowls of salads, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cabbage, and various pastas encircled a large turkey. On each of the platters before the chairs was a steaming baked potato with butter melting at the center. Justis stared hungrily at the feast while Vito closed his mouth and swallowed the saliva that had accumulated as his mouth watered.

Tris and Briar grinned at each other before gesturing at the table, signaling that the twins were welcome to help themselves – an offer they readily took. Soon, everyone had joined the feast and before long, stomachs were full and conversations started.

"Mandrake," Briar told Vito during that dinner, "Is a very powerful magical plant. It is very rare, though I have a healthy supply. The Mandrake is a healing plant that can cure most illnesses and drinking it will reverse most hexes and curses. As I told you before, it has its own defense mechanism which will result in the instant death of those without some sort of buffer or immunity to the cry." Vito listened intently, managing a spoonful of mashed potatoes from time to time. Briar continued on, excited to be sharing his knowledge of the subject with someone willing to listen…who was not a woman. At the same time, Tris was explaining to Justis what ambient mages were.

"Very underrated is what we are," she said rather stiffly. "Ambient mages, unlike the academic mages you may know of, draw their power from the things to which they have a magical connection. Like Sandry," she told Justis, who had just stuffed a large bit of turkey into his mouth, and pointed at the noble in question, "she is a Thread Mage. All of her spells work through thread, whether she's working thread or magic, the work takes the form of thread." While everyone else seemed to be wrapped in conversations, or in seconds, there was one person in the room who seemed uninterested in talking with anyone. At the far end of the table, Niko sat staring curiously at the twins. Every moment or so, he would mumble something to himself and shake his head.

Slowly, the tinkle of silverware against glass died and the conversations grew louder. When everyone had completely finished eating, including dessert, Sandry rose from her chair and went to where the twins sat.

"Well," she began nicely, "did you enjoy the feast." Instead of a verbal response, they nodded vigorously. "Excellent! Now, tomorrow, we need to make sure we get your measurements."

"Measurements?" Justis asked almost nervously.

"Well, the fire destroyed any clothes you may have had and we have to get you some clothes to wear. You cannot wear that everyday," she told them indicating the outfit they wore now. The twins looked themselves over self-consciously. They wore identical white outfits with drawstrings at the waist of their pants and an unbuttoned shirt. Neither had put shoes on, but had decided that they would go barefoot – it was so _unnatural_ to place things over one's feet.

"Why can't we wear this tomorrow?" Justis asked, confused.

Sandry seemed genuinely surprised that they even had asked the question. She, quite uncharacteristically, stuttered so horribly that Daja answered for her. "Sandry," she explained, "is a stitch witch. She lives to sew and stitch things together. So…she takes seeing the same clothes two days in a row as a personal challenge. Don't worry, you'll have a full wardrobe by the end of this week – if not, sooner." The blue-eyed girl considered her sister's words for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.

"Oh," Justis said lamely with a hint of disappointment. "Well. Right then." A part of him argued that he liked the clothes he wore. Yet the more rational side of his mind argued that insulting a mage, one with nobility in her blood for that matter, was not a smart idea. As long as they don't burn it, he thought to himself, I can still wear them whenever I like.

It was around midnight when everyone had lain themselves down to sleep. Outside, the peaceful sounds of night sang those in homes to sleep. Crickets chirped, owls hooted, and a cool summer breeze blew through the open windows of the manor. In the manor, there was only one person who had not fallen into the land of reverie.

On the third floor, in the recovery ward of the manor, Vitalis shook his brother vigorously. In turn, he received an incomprehensible grumble and a back turned to him. Determined, he shook his brother more vigorously.

"I don't wanna clean the fireplace…it makes me cough," he mumbled through his sleep. Vito's eyes softened as he heard the words and a look somewhere between content and depression hung on his face before he remembered why he had pretended to be asleep for so long.

"Justis! Get! Up!" he ordered his twin gently. Receiving no response but a loud snore, he muttered, "Sorry about this…" and covered his brother's nose with his hand. It took several seconds before Justis finally woke from his sleep, gasping for air.

"You promised!" he gasped, rising to sit upright. He looked around for a moment, remembering where he was before his eyes fell on his brother. "What!" he snapped.

Vito ignored the harsh tone of his brother's voice and explained. "You have _got_ to see this," he whispered, pulling on Justis' arm in an attempt to drag the boy from his bed. Justis shook Vito off of him and mumbled, "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

Several minutes later, they were creeping through the house trying their best not to make a sound. Justis followed Vito to the first floor, through the kitchen, and out the back door to the gardens. He was led through the first ordinary garden, then into a garden that smelled of tea, and finally to where Vito must have wanted to end up.

"Vito," he said nervously, "I don't think we supposed to go in there. I don't know how good your reading is, but that says--"

"—I know what it says," Vito interrupted irritably. "But I was in there and didn't die."

"But we can't get through there anyway," Justis argued. "It's covered in thorns; and no garden is worth getting ripped to pieces."

"They retract." Vito approached the vines that…did not move. Vito stared at the thorns and ran a hand through his hair. He could not, for the life of him, remember how he had managed to get those vines to move before. He reached a hand out to touch them; thinking contact would inspire them to open the entrance. The thorny vines remained stubbornly in place.

Justis gave an overly exaggerated yawn before saying, "They don't seem to be retracting." His brother ignored him, growing frustrated.

"Open!" Vito hissed angrily at the thorns. Like children being scolded, they quickly pulled themselves back from the entrance to reveal the archway leading to the final garden. Turning he looked smugly at his brother who had folded his arms over his chest and whose head had drooped onto his chest that he had crossed his arms over. Vito grabbed Justis by one of his crossed arms and pulled him through the entrance.

The twins spent the next half hour in the garden exploring. Or, more accurately, Vito explained the properties of the plants that Briar had told him about while Justis smiled and nodded. When it became apparent that Justis was merely humoring him, a fact that was made obvious from the lack of enthusiasm, Vito suggested they should be returning to bed.

"Yes!" Justis cheered to himself quietly. It was not quiet enough, however, to bypass the ears of his twin who promptly flushed with anger and marched towards the entrance to the garden. "What?"

"You _know_ what!" Justis snapped; well, as much as he could. It seemed even while angry, he could not bring himself to yell. "You coulda at least _pretended_ that you cared about the things I care about. But no!" With that, he resumed his infuriated path to the entrance, swiping angrily at the branch of a weeping willow that was in his way.

"Oh, wait up!" Justis said irritably to his brother, jogging to catch up, moving the same branch from his path. As he caught up with his brother, he placed his hand on his shoulder and was going to apologize before he heard the rustling of leaves coming from behind. He slowly turned around and watched the branches of that tree rising, snake-like, into the air before they began to wave violently, like ribbons caught in a furious wind. From the branches, leaves shot forward. At first, Justis thought nothing of the leaves before he saw that they caught the light of the moon unlike any leaf he had ever seen; the only thing that reflected light like the leaves did was metal. His only thought to protect his brother, he threw himself in the path of the blowing leaves, spread his arms, and closed his eyes in preparation for the onslaught of the magical plant.

It never came.

When Justis opened his eyes, he saw the leaves bouncing off what appeared to be solid air with the sound of metal on glass. His mouth dropped open in shock. Just as his lips parted, a final leaf-blade, for there was no other name for them, seemed to penetrate the air and slashed viciously against Justis' arm, causing blood to splatter from the wound and onto the ground, before falling lifeless to the ground as a leaf should. Justis fell to his knees and howled in pain, all airs of toughness forgotten as tears flowed freely from his eyes. Vito was frozen in horror, looking down at his twin as his hand trembled its way to cover his open mouth.

"What are you two do--" From the entrance, Briar stood looking at the blood on the ground and the branches of the leaves which were now flowing innocently in the night breeze. He scowled at the tree before plunging his hand into the damp earth beneath him and yelling, "SANDRY!" Using some sort of magic, his voice echoed fiercely throughout the entire garden and, one would imagine, throughout the manor. Turning his attention back to the tree he said, "For that little stunt, you'll be going leafless until spring." Waving his hand once, every leaf from every branch of the tree fell to the ground in one fluid motion. The remaining branches of the tree drooped lower than usual in, what could be nothing but, sadness. "Now," he continued frustrated, "I thought I told you to only come in here if I…." He stopped in mid-sentence as his eyes fell on Vito.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry." Those were the only words anyone could hear coming from Vito's mouth. As he spoke them, his voice trembled. It was, perhaps, one of the saddest things Briar had ever heard in his life; and he had seen children cry before. For some reason, Vito made those around him want to care for him. Briar had the distinct feeling that had he not been a plant-mage, he might have cut the tree down. He rushed to Justis, removed his shirt, and put it over the wound to stop the blood.

"I'm fine," Justis continually lied through clenched teeth. Vito, apparently, was not listening. He kept apologizing over and over, tears streaming down his face. He was still apologizing when Sandry arrived with her Mage's kit. She removed Briar's shirt from Justis' arm and her mouth dropped.

The ripped and gapping skin on Justis' arm was falling back into place as a golden light poured from the wound. Once all the skin had lain itself back on the arm, there was a jagged line of light that traveled down the cut before vanishing altogether. Aside from the stains of blood over his arm and on Briar's shirt and on the ground, there was no evidence that Justis had ever been cut. It was then that the remainder of the house decided to show themselves.

Groggily, Niko, Daja, and Tris walked across the grass to where the group was sitting, quite silently.

"What is all that noise about," Tris asked irritably.

Ignoring her, Briar turned to Niko and said bluntly, "You were wrong." Everyone stared at him as he made that profound statement. He continued, "It may be an unrecognizable form of magic, but these two have magic in them. They _have_ to have some form of magic running through them."

Niko's eyes widened and his mouth formed itself into a frown before he said, "Please, explain."

"Do you see that?" Brair asked pointing at Justis' bloodstained arm. "A minute ago, that arm looked as though someone has taken a butcher knife and given him a nice slashing with it. Somehow, it healed itself. Not just any healing either; I've never seen anyone perform a healing like the one that just happened. There is no trace of a scar or any sign that he had ever been cut in the first place. And before the Blade-Leaf Willow's leaf scratched him, it had been held off by some sort of invisible shield. I'm telling you, Niko. These boys have magic in them."

Niko's eyes widened even further in a look of sudden comprehension. "What is a sage?" he asked suddenly, directing his question to the twins. It was Justis that answered him.

"A sage is a rare type of mage whose power works through their mind," Justis informed him. "They are a type of ambient mage, but their power derives directly from their minds. Sages have the ability of telepathy, telekinesis, and the ability to manipulate the things around them in various ways. No one quite knows the limit of their powers, so many believe there is none."

"And how did you know that?" Niko pressed.

"I…I don't know," Justis said truthfully.

"You have never read that anywhere before?"

Justis shook his head and said, "No. I just…knew. It was like a little voice just told me."

Niko looked inquisitively at Justis as he asked, "Does this happen often? Do that voice tell you things all the time? And if it does, is it always right?"

Justis nodded. "It happens all the time. I know things I shouldn't know. It used to get me in trouble all the time. But its just these voices in my head tell me things sometimes and they just happen to be right all the time."

Niko nodded curtly and said, "Right." He then turned to the rest of the group and explained. "I do believe we have a Sage here. A Sage, or a Mind Mage, is one of the hardest types of mages to find because they often hide their magic from the minds of others without realizing it. You see, Sages have complete power over the minds around them if the minds are not prepared for them. Even so, a properly trained Sage cannot be blocked but by the art of Mind-Fortification. Luckily, they are also a rare type of mage." He paused as he looked at Vito, who was staring at his brother in fascination. "In any case, that is why the spells I used to reveal the magic to myself were not working. They _would_ have worked, even with him being a Sage, seeing as I poured strength into those spells. Yet having a twin that is also a mage gave him extra-ordinary powers. Twin mages often have twice the normal amount of power in them individually than they should."

"I'm a mage as well?" Vito asked quietly, his voice trembling in what could only be fear.

"Yes," Niko said simply. "What Briar and Sandry witnessed was not the power of a Healer. There is no such thing as a natural healer. It takes years of training and practice to perform healings; especially the type that you saw. No… seeing as you told me that Vito was able to get past your plant-gate, I gather that he is but another rare type of mage: a Life Mage. Life mages are, of course, ambient mages whose power comes from the life around them. That alone gives them immense power in what they do…they are a dangerous type of magic, especially untrained. Life mages possess the powers of a plant mage, an animal mage, and…a healer."

Everyone was silent after Niko spoke. It was a lot to take in; sure, Niko explained why he was unable to find the magic before, but it was still unsettling. Niko had never been wrong, yet these children had managed to hide their magical gifts from him -- without even realizing what they had done. It raised the question that if he could be wrong about this, was it possible he could be wrong about other things as well?

Finally, Daja spoke. "So what does this mean? What happens now?"

"Well, meditation has to begin immediately," he instructed. "The last sage known died last week of old age…and there are no Life Mages in existence aside from Vito. Tris? As you have studied more magic than probably anyone else here, would you oversee Justis' training?"

Tris considered her options. It meant she would have to, yet again, take in a student. This student was not even nice and grown. He was a child who would certainly complain when things got too hard. Yet, she knew the look Niko fixed her with. Sure, he was asking, but it was only a nicety. She had no choice. As she had been the first to know of his power, for she had known that it was impossible to enter her private study without it, she would have had to take on the responsibility regardless. She scowled as she said, "Fine."

"Excellent," he said smiling at Tris, knowing precisely the predicament he had placed her in. "Now, who will instruct Vito?"

"I will," Briar said without hesitation. "It's for the best," he explained. "The magics you said he has are closest to the things I work with. No one else here knows how to handle plants and no one else knows healing methods. Even with the right books, I doubt even Tris could explain the processes in a way they'd understand."

Niko nodded his approval before giving in to a yawn. "It is late," he said looking at the moon. "I must be off to bed, I leave tomorrow. You all should follow my suit. I'm sure at least four of you have a busy day ahead of you." No one argued with them. They all silently returned to their rooms.

Justis and Vito lay in their beds for hours before they decided they were too scared to sleep in separately. Only when Vito had crawled into his brother's bed did they finally drift into the land of reverie peacefully.

**Next Chapter Teaser**: In the next chapter of this story, we will see yet again that Niko is not always right as we find problems with the Twin's Meditation. Briar, not liking the advice Niko gives him, decides to take things into his own hands. Keep your eyes out for: **_Chapter Five: A New Way of Mediation._**


End file.
